The path to harmonized and streamlined global trade is steep and strewn with boulders.

The number of container ships afloat has decreased in the first half of 2014 and could fall on an annual basis this year, for the first time in at least 20 years. Although the total TEU nominal capacity of the global fleet continues to increase by about 6 percent a year, this growth in capacity now comes solely from the increase in average ship size, not from having more ships.

The suite of TradeMaster applications from QuestaWeb, Inc., a provider of global trade management software, is now compatible with Internet Explorer 8-11, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

Huhtamaki Inc., a producer of consumer-goods and food-service packaging, was looking to expand its international activities. Scott Stuckenschneider, vice president of North American supply chain, is joined by Sheila Hewitt, vice president international with Transplace, to discuss how the company formalized its global logistics program.

Observing its 20th birthday, NAFTA continues to play a key role in developing trade between the U.S. and Mexico. Troy Ryley, managing director of Mexico with Transplace, outlines the issues that shippers doing business in Mexico face today.

The trade relationship between the United States and Africa, as well as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - which provides exporters duty-free access to the lucrative U.S. market - was recently put under the microscope at the U.S.-Sub Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, which coincided with President Barack Obama's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, both held in Washington last week.

Resilinc has released an application that aids companies in meeting the Securities and Exchange Commission's new reporting rules on conflict minerals in manufactured goods.